Euroleague Basketball have revealed a list of proposed teams that will compete in this season’s Euroleague and Eurocup competitions.
The lists will be now be submitted to the ECA Shareholders meeting for approval. The meeting is scheduled to take place on July 8.
For the Euroleague, in addition to the 11 teams with A Licences the list is comprised of Limoges as French League champions, Stelmet Zielona Gora as champions in Poland, Red Star Belgrade and Cedevita Zagreb as Adriatic League champion and runner-up, respectively, Khimki Moscow Region as Russian League runner-up (VTB United League), Brose Baskets Bamberg as German League champion and Dinamo Sassari as Italian League champion. The Board has also proposed to provisionally grant one B Licence to the Turkish League champion this summer Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir for the 2015-16 Euroleague season only.
This direct qualification is conditional on the creation of a professional basketball league in Turkey over the next 12 months, as is already the case in all other Euroleague markets.
Bayern Munich, Strasbourg, Lokomotiv Kuban and Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul are the teams proposed to receive one-year wild cards to play in the 2015-16 Euroleague.
The Board evaluated a number of different criteria before proposing the wild cards, including market growth strategy and the competitive standard of the team, amongst others.
The complete list of 2015-16 Euroleague teams, as voted by the majority of the Board members, is as follows:
TEAMS | COUNTRY | DOMESTIC STANDINGS |
Anadolu Efes (A-Licence) | Turkey | Finalist |
BC Khimki Moscow (B- Licence) | Russia | Finalist |
Brose Baskets Bamberg (B-Licence) | Germany | Champion |
*Cedevita Zagreb (B-Licence) | Croatia | Finalist ABA League |
*Red Star Belgrade (B-Licence) | Serbia | Champion ABA League |
CSKA Moscow (A-Licence) | Russia | Champion |
Darussafaka Dogus (Wildcard) | Turkey | Quarterfinalist |
Dinamo Sassari (B-Licence) | Italy | Champion |
EA7 Milan (A-Licence) | Italy | Semifinalist |
FC Barcelona (A-Licence) | Spain | Finalist |
Bayern Munich (Wildcard) | Germany | Finalist |
Fenerbahce Ulker (A-Licence) | Turkey | Semifinalist |
Laboral Kutxa (A-Licence) | Spain | Quarterfinalist |
Limoges (B-Licence) | France | Champion |
Lokomotiv Kuban (Wildcard) | Russia | Semifinalist |
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (A-Licence) | Israel | Semifinalist |
Olympiacos (A-Licence) | Greece | Champion |
Panathinaikos (A-Licence) | Greece | Finalist |
Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir (B-Licence) | Turkey | Champion |
Real Madrid (A-Licence) | Spain | Champion |
Stelmet Zielona Gora (B-Licence) | Poland | Champion |
Strasbourg (Wildcard) | France | Finalist |
**Unicaja Malaga (B-Licence) | Spain | Semifinalist |
Zalgiris (A-Licence) | Lithuania | Champion |
* The registrations of teams from the ABA League will be considered complete only when the new ABA League including all participating teams submit the necessary documentation to ensure that it fulfills the criteria required of all domestic leagues including its relationship with ECA.
** Following the limitation of three A-Licences per country that the ECA Shareholders Meeting approved in Barcelona on July 9, 2014, Unicaja Malaga, as the lowest-ranked A-Licence team participating in the Spanish League has lost its A-Licence. Unicaja gains a spot in the 2015-16 Euroleague thorugh a B-Licence, being the best ranked team in the Spanish Domestic League without an A-Licence.
For the 2015-16 Eurocup season, the proposed list of 36 teams includes nine wild cards: AEK Athens and Aris Thessaloniki of Greece, Besiktas and Galatasaray of Turkey, CAI Zaragoza of Spain, Enel Basket Brindisi of Italy, Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd of Russia, Neptunas of Lithuania and Steaua Bucharest of Romania.
The complete list of 2015-16 Eurocup teams, as voted by the majority of the Board members, is as follows:
TEAMS | COUNTRY | DOMESTIC STANDINGS |
AEK Athens (Wildcard) | Greece | Quarterfinalist |
ALBA Berlin | Germany | Semifinalist |
Aris Thessaloniki (Wildcard) | Greece | Semifinalist |
Banvit Bandirma | Turkey | Quarterfinalist |
Besiktas (Wildcard) | Turkey | 9th Qualified Regular Season |
*Buducnost | Montenegro | ABA League semifinalist |
CAI Zaragoza (Wildcard) | Spain | 9th Qualified Regular Season |
CEZ Nymburk | Czech Republic | Champion |
Dolomiti Energia Trento | Italy | Quarterfinalist |
Bilbao Basket | Spain | Quarterfinalist |
Enel Basket Brindisi (Wildcard) | Italy | Quarterfinalist |
Galatasaray (Wildcard) | Turkey | Quarterfinalist |
Reggio Emilia | Italy | Finalist |
Hapoel Jerusalem | Israel | Champion |
Gran Canaria | Spain | Quarterfinalist |
JSF Nanterre | France | Quarterfinalist |
Juventus Utena | Lithuania | Semifinalist |
Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd (Wildcard) | Russia | Regular Season |
Le Mans | France | Semifinalist |
Lietuvos Rytas | Lithuania | Finalist |
Neptunas (Wildcard) | Lithuania | Semifinalist |
Nizhny Novgorod | Russia | Semifinalist |
PAOK Thessaloniki | Greece | Semifinalist |
PGE Turow | Poland | Finalist |
ratiopharm Ulm | Germany | Semifinalist |
SLUC Nancy | France | Semifinalist |
Steaua Bucharest (Wildcard) | Romania | Semifinalist |
Telekom Baskets Bonn | Germany | Quarterfinalist |
Telenet Ostend | Belgium | Champion |
Trabzonspor | Turkey | Semifinalist |
Umana Reyer Venice | Italy | Semifinalist |
Unics Kazan | Russia | Quarterfinalist |
*Union Olimpija | Slovenia | ABA League 5th Qualified Regular Season |
Valencia Basket | Spain | Semifinalist |
VEF Riga | Latvia | Champion |
Zenit St. Petersburg | Russia | Quarterfinalist |
* The registrations of teams from the ABA League will be considered complete only when the new ABA League including all participating teams submit the necessary documentation to ensure that it fulfills the criteria required of all domestic leagues including its relationship with ECA.
The first step of a new and exciting season will take place when Euroleague Basketball hosts draws for the 2015-16 Euroleague and Eurocup on Thursday, July 9 at the Mediapro Auditorium in Barcelona, Spain.